#ngl they lost their powers like every other season

[ratinthebins]

*vine boom*

amogus

[angelthemanspanker]

my most tinfoil hat AtS opinion is that legit straight up canon spangel was like RIGHT beneath the surface of season 5, like the show was ready to pivot in the direction of them being at least friends with benefits at a moment's notice despite fate and the censors' best efforts

Season 1 had shit like Angel's first power walk shot set against a pride flag and him awkwardly telling guys he wasn't hitting on them, going for a kinda Adam West Batman kinda gay thing where people assume that about him bc it's the early 2000s and his clothes fit VS Season 5 in the premiere alone giving us Angel correcting a guy who calls him a "little fairy" with "I'm not little" and the legendary, blog-inspiring "I have no problem spanking men" (one of which he says to a guy he's about to kill and one to a guy he knocked out, almost like Angel lets gayer behaviour slip if he's around people who can't bring it up later hm) followed by the only man we KNOW Angel has fucked literally appearing from thin air in his office

then you get Life of the Party where Angel's Whacky Magic Antics are set off by Lorne telling Angel and the person he's having sexually tense arguments with to get a room, causing him to have ill-advised hate sex he ordinarily would not have with someone he is reluctantly attracted to. and I believe in my BONES that at SOME POINT in the scripting process that that person was gonna be Spike. Even setting aside my admittedly subjective opinion that Angel and Eve had even less sexual chemistry than Xander and Willow, it just... scans. Angel and Spike have their "I need to get our faces within an inch of each other or I'll die" arguments in front of EVERYBODY in literally every episode of the season, so I feel like if Lorne was gonna say it about ANYONE it'd be about them. I will never budge from my belief that Spike still being a ghost at this point and early 2000s tv politics caused them to abandon the Angel And Spike Magically Fuck At The Party plot early in the writing process for the episode and slot Eve in there instead while Spike gets the easy-to-write-into-existing-scenes positivity thing.

and THEN. AND THEN. it becomes a plot point that the show Angel's friends are suddenly really on board with him getting back out there dating-wise (the unperson-ing of Cordelia helps here. whee.), with us all suddenly being in agreement that there is little to no danger of his curse being triggered by sex (even though both times he's lost the soul since his curse, real or imagined sex played a significant role in the moment of happiness). Like, Nina is one of the more one-dimensional characters in the Buffyverse and her midness seems to be for the purpose of setting the audience at ease that Angel's soul ain't going anywhere from hooking up with her.

WESLEY is all for it! Wesley "Most Paranoid and Prepared For The Return of Angelus" Wyndam-Pryce is saying look man we're all rooting for you go have a relationship with a girl whose only flaw that I can come up with is that she's a werewolf. Like sir??? How can you be sure the Beautiful Engaging Young Woman Who Actually Wants You won't accidentally make Angel happy with her extremely inoffensive flavour of Nice?

Whereas if, say, there was a beautiful, engaging blonde who actually wants Angel and Angel wants but comes with the caveat that THIS beautiful blonde not only drives Angel up the fucking wall but recently had magical sex with Angel at the office party in front of the whole main cast, proving that as much as Angel gets off on screwing Spike that he is Not happy about it? I can see Wes giving the all clear on that one ngl

bonus points that Angel and Nina got the Official Couple upgrade in Smile Time which comes right before the Illyria tragedy forces Angel and Spike into the... maybe not friendly but LESS hostile dynamic they keep for the rest of the show, so the season structure of their relationship still follows a lot of the same beats. honestly besides getting a lot more moments of David Boreanaz and James Marsters trying to out-six-pack each other in their post-coital shirtless scenes the only thing you'd need to do is change the world-shattering "Me and Angel have never been intimate. Well except that one..." to something along the lines of "Me and Angel have never been intimate, I just shag the bastard"

[mislamicpearl]

Random thoughts about Ninjago DR S2 part 2 (first three episodes)

SPOILERS

THE ADMINISTRATION! AGENT WALKER MENTION! Ugh, but if only Arin and Sora had mentioned him in front of the others!

The two of them acted more like actual ninjas in that first minute sneaking around than I think any of the OG ninja have done in 17 seasons lol.

For some reason that "dispel the vapor!" joke made me laugh hard.

Lloyd in the opening using rising dragon technique instead of Kai is both cool and sad at the same time🥲

Not really digging Wyldfyre's new hair style.

Kinda weird how Cole is nowhere to be seen in the first episode and only Zane is shown to have been training with the dragon masters.

Also his kids completely disappeared?? They weren't with Geo either, where'd they go???

Aww Lloyd... just, Lloyd. I love you baby boy.

Nya was going full aunt on Wyldfyre and I'm HERE for it!

KAI SIGHTING!!! Yes I am going to freak out every time they show Kai. Also have he and Bonzle eaten anything since they were sent to the back rooms?? How long has it been anyway?

Tournament of elements and Chen mentioned!

I completely forgot that Geo was an EM, because his power is really stupid...

Also did he just decide to go back and live in the realm of lost things or whatever it's called...?

Woah woah WAIT was that Ninjago City? It still exists??? And it looks normal? Is that where all the missing side characters are???

Hmm, so, Roby... not a fan of this character so far. I mean he's funny but I'm really not big on the whole influencer personality he has going on. At least he doesn't seem to be a jerk (except to his uncle lol)

Oh and he's gonna be the boyfriend/love interest of Wyldfyre the writers talked about huh? (Way to make that obvious.) That's... odd. Too early to judge the ship of course but it's a little strange to see Wyfy swooning over this type of guy (much less that she would swoon over anyone really).

NEW Master of Shade??? WHAT! What about, you know, Shade? He was cool! He was part of the resistance! Lego stop replacing the old characters for no reason!!

And of all the EM's to keep and bring back, you kept invisible man guy? Um excuse me, what about Karloff and Neuro? IF YOU REPLACE THEM I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!

Speaking of, where the FRICK is Skylor???? Like if you don't want her on the show (YET) at least give her a mention or something?? Or explain why she's not there? Seriously, wouldn't the ninja at least wonder if they might run into her?

Or JAY FOR THAT MATTER??? Ugh it bugs me so much that aside from Nya asking Lloyd about Jay in season 1, none of the OG ninja ever ask or wonder about the ones who were missing, or ever make it an objective of theirs to find each other.

Roby: the winner gets to take the loser's powers.

Ninja: What if the winner is evil?

Roby: Nah I have the cup and can take back the powers any time, and you can totally trust me bro.

Seems kinda sus.

Oh, Beatrix's twin sister showed up, that's neat and unexpected! (I forgot she had an elemental power tbh.) Already like her way more than Beatrix.

The Merge apparently: You get an elemental power, you get an elemental power, everyone gets an elemental power!

Seriously, these elemental powers are really becoming like quirks or devil fruits now (@ MHA and One Piece fans). I wonder if Arin's "quake" friend will have any significance moving forward.

Him fanboying over Cole and Nya was cute though.

I know nothing has really happened yet, but SHEESH Cole and Zane feel like they're just THERE. These characters used to have more of a presence even when they didn't have something to do. Honestly I think the cast has just gotten too big for the writers to know what to do with, which is why they keep putting at least one or two of them (usually Zane *grumbles*) in timeout.

Dang, what's happening with Jordana is messed up.

Ngl I'm glad snail guy got kicked out, was never a fan of him.

Definitely intrigued by weird horned geckle hybrid guy (didn't catch his species name).

'"There is an imposter among us!"

JAAAAAAAY WE GOT A JAY SIGHTING LET'S GOOOOO!

[silvermeww]

12. An unpopular character you like? (and why more people should like them)

asdfghjk THANKS FOR THE ASK I'M GIVING YOU SO MUCH <33 RN

Ooh, hmm, this'll be fun. there are so many examples in pokeani and honestly some are a little eh, but then I remembered how almost every comment I see about 'worse' characters seem to include Max and I just don't get it?? How can anyone hate him??

(fun fact, when I was first watching him - in dub mind you - I also really didn't like him much. but I was coming off from the end of the OG, which was pretty sad considering who we lost, and tbh especially in 4kids early seasons dub EVERYONE was pretty unlikeable. I think I hated almost everyone back in the early gens at some point lol; I can be real vindicative but I think watching the whole thing taught me to take my time before judging stuff :v)

But yeah!! I really don't get the hate. Oh, so he said that Ash sucked for getting 8th place in the Silver Conference - can we all remember that a) legit kid and b) he's seeing this guy lose to an evolved starter from his own region of the SAME type as Ash's. It's like watching a Venasaur lose to Meganium if you're from Kanto; you'll be feeling pretty patriotic and stuff too ngl, especially if you don't have any battle experience yet.

But he acts so smart - Yes, and?? I don't see anyone talk about how Gary was coming up in the first season spouting random facts only to lose in the prelims and get a lower place than Ash. Again, I wish that people remember that Max is the kid of a Gym Leader, who reads and watches Leagues to make up for not being able to watc the Gym Battles taking place under the same roof, who dreams of becoming as strong if not stronger than his father. He's going to have high expectations. He's going to think that knowledge is everything. He's going to show off as much as he can, to make up for the fact that he's the only one in the group who isn't a Trainer. And I love how he learns that you have to actually interact with Pokemon to learn what it's all about, that you can't replace experience, that you can still experience things now even if you are too young to start. There isn't a limit to going out and interacting with the world. He doesn't have to wait. He's allowed to make mistakes and own up and not know stuff and grow, now and in the future. In a way, he's learning the same things as May, and I think that's wonderful.

And while I wish that he could've gotten a Pokemon while on the journey (one that he could keep à la XY with Bonnie), I'm fine with what he had in Advanced. He got to see Gym Battles. He got to travel two (2) regions. He got to see different aspects of being a Trainer, as a Coordinator and as a Breeder/Doctor. He got the recognition of his father in the end and was able to get into the Gym business. He got to play and learn with so many Pokemon and just act his age for once, instead of having to grow up to make up the percieved difference (wrongly percieved, might I add). Dang it, he brefriended two Mythical Pokemon (Jirachi and that other Deoxys). I dunno, he's doing pretty well for himself. Sure he's snappish and remarks on a bunch of stuff, but AG is full of that (ugh Ash was on another level, especially in Hoenn) (we don't talk about flat Brock) and S1 Kanto was way worse.

Anyways everyone go out and appreciate this goober. He did not bond with this Ralts for nothing and I swear I did not cry in this ep just for everyone to hate him. His character growth was awesome and if we ever get a Chronicles 2.0 I need to see his journey (the kids that go with Ash legit get such powerful Pokemon I fear for the competition lol).

[nono-bunny]

Thoughts from watching the ATLA live action!

Episode 2:

So I guess no intro every episode? A shame, but understandable (we literally got it twice in the first one lmao). Hopefully it's back in season 2!

Ah, so this is the aforementioned diary related hissy fit I've been hearing so much about! It is pretty funny tbh lol. Anyway, no, Iroh, Zuko had it right actually lmao, Aang is a coward! It's just... A bit strange to include that here given that his biggest running away incident isn't present in this show? So like. Yes, animated Aang absolutely is a coward, as to this one? It remains to be seen ig, so far he isn't that much, actually, which just makes Zuko seem wrong when in the animated show he would've been 100% correct

OwO what's this??? An Aang thats being proactive and interested about learning and how to control and best use his powers??? You love to see it.

Alright so. Truly I don't know what people are talking about in regards to Katara? Her sense of adventure and tendency to get in trouble while doing reckless things is still absolutely present- those are also important things about her, not just being angry and nurturing! This is a Katara that presents and composes herself differently, and yeah, it's a bit strange! But she still feels like Katara, just... A quiet Katara! She's much less out there with her emotions, which. I do miss a bit ngl, but it's a really interesting direction for her that feels like it's inevitably gonna lead to a major explosion, probably around the time of TSR too! So idk, its really not as big of an issue to me as it seems to be to other people ig. She and Aang were changed a lot- with Aang I do think it's absolutely a positive change because I hate him in canon, but with Katara I just think it's really interesting and worth giving a shot to because it doesn't seem wholly out of pocket or to be leading nowhere, not when you know that her highest emotional points still lie in wait and might, in fact, hit harder if they were a complete deviation from normal to this otherwise calm character. It may still flop and fail, but I genuinely do thing they're building up to something with her and that it's worth giving a chance to.

Kanna once again being the goat!! Idk that I talked much about her during the last episode but I think it was mostly just because I didn't really have any notes lol, I just enjoy her expanded role a lot! The entire legacy of the southern bending being lost in favor of the northern one is a thing I've seen talked about a lot, so I actually really like that there's at least one moveset from the southern style that's preserved here. Of coursing losing "I'll save you from the pirates" is a great personal loss, but I've already seen The Scarf scene so I'm glad at least there was a more or less equivalent replacement lol

Burying Gyatso is a great addition!!!

Blasphemy!!! No such thing as "chicken"!!! What is this abomination Sokka speaks of here???

God everything about Kyoshi Island, including Suki, is just... 😍 I really do love that this Aang is capable of like. Relating to others, being understanding and persuasive and cautious. It's certainly like. A whole different person aside from brief moments of silliness and levity, but it works much better for me because, again, this is a level he never reaches in the original even at the end of his story even though he SHOULD'VE.

Iroh is fr so weird with how direct he is, I just. Can't get used to it- literally his only eccentric quality atm is being a bit of a gourmand, it feels really off. For all his talk about being able to know how to talk to people to get what you want, Zhao sees through him super quick, because like, c'mon, literally who wouldn't??? It was super obviously a lie and. It's all so bizarre, he feels WAY too serious for this point in the story and it genuinely really takes me out of every scene he's in.

As weird as it is for Suki to still get offended when Sokka respects her position and calls her a warrior, the Sukka here IS really funny and fun to watch haha!

Katara is genuinely so sweet with Aang here, idk I just really enjoyed that scene! Do kinda wish we'd get to see Katara drop her water orb lmao, I keep waiting for it to happen and it just never does. She IS a natural prodigy, but I think the original show demonstrated a bit better how much she struggled without any guidance by having her fail her forms rather than just fail to get anything to happen.

It's the intro air scooter scene!!!! Also I'm really enjoying how Katara's right here about Aang being good with people, and how I noticed it myself as well!

Suki trying to flirt with Sokka is so cute oml

Aang being TOO powerful and unable to control his bending is actually such a good idea!!

Omg finally Iroh feels like Iroh!! Who knew all that was needed was literally just for him to talk in Pai Sho metaphors again lmao. Tbh, maybe just literally ANY metaphor whatsoever was missing, oof

Interesting to have Suki take off her makeup right before battle, or like. At all during her first appearance! Not really like, bad or good, just an interesting choice I felt was worth mentioning because it certainly hit me as very different

Hey, uh, Kyoshi babe, you're 100% correct and I enjoy seeing you yelling some sense into Aang but. This is the wrong Aang for this??? Like he literally never ran away it's so bizarre how they keep acting like he did when the original was all too happy to drop that angle when he consistently did. Idk it kinda feels like him not technically running away was maybe like a last minute rewrite or something? It's weird and doesn't gel with how people keep treating it- especially Kyoshi, who was there and should know he legitimately had no intent on turning back from his duties at any point. I love love LOVEE this scene but? It doesn't fit in this version of the story, sadly

Wait why the fuck can Kyoshi see the future?? This is so weird, like I get that it's his call to action and a way of pointing them to the NWT given that they haven't really talked about going there yet but. It's a really weird power for her to suddenly have lmao (unless this is a thing in the novels? I wouldn't know, haven't read them, but somehow I feel like I would've heard about it)

Can I just say that I really like Yukari, and in particular her relationship with Suki? She's a fine addition to this arc imo, and really supports the whole "young people lead the charge on making a difference". Kyoshi Island's motivations for staying neutral in the animated show were of course understandable, but I like that here we can see there's a real conflict about it even before the gaang arrive there. It really endears Suki in a whole new way (tbh she's generally amazing here) and it will make it a lot more natural when we see her again in the following seasons! Also my own personal selfish wish is for the show to find a way to make her a part of the gaang for longer and earlier on. Like, as it stands, if there are three seasons, she might show up once again in season 2 and obviously join up with them in season 3 but. Boy do I want to see more of her, always have, always will! This show is genuinely such a prime opportunity to integrate her more info the story- make her have meaningful relationships with each member of the gaang, establish a role for her and what unique thing she brings to the group (special mention as always to @emletish-fish 's Stalking Zuko for having her be "the sensible one" which worked great)... Just. Make her matter for once, because I will never forgive nor be able to get over the way her existence was just completely ignored and essentially erased in LoK. Suki has always deserved better, right down to the way she was constantly brought back each season because everyone loved her, and I want this show to better reflect that that the absolute nothing she was given in LoK. Suki is a member of the gaang and she deserves to be treated as such, not just as Sokka's girlfriend.

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled post!Sokka pissing off Zhao while using Suki's fan is something that can be so personal... Like, I can get into the symbolism here about the connection between these characters but. For anyone who knows where the show is going, there are no words necessary to understand why that interaction carries the weight it does. It's just... A beautiful, emotional little moment amidst some really solid fighting choreography! Of course Suki and Sokka working beautifully together was great, Yukari's fighting highly suggests she was a Kyoshi Warrior in her time as well (is... Kyoshi leadership a nepotism/family thing? Questions to ask.), and Momo getting involved were all great, but. That was really the highlight for me. It would be really impactful to anyone who knows, and to anyone who doesn't it's still just like. A really kickass Sokka moment

Also may I just say I'm very impressed with how far Sokka's come in less than two days? Like, of course it's probably not very realistic, but it absolutely supports what they're getting at here which is that Suki IS a great leader and teacher (the short scene with her looking over the other warriors' training and correcting their form was great), and that Sokka is ultimately just as competent a fighter as Katara and has the same natural talent and drive. Their little exchange about nonbenders having to work harder and be better felt very... Real in a way I can't quite express, and it felt like a very important thing that deserved to be acknowledged by the show. Sokka gets underestimated so much and reduced so frequently to being the meat and sarcasm guy, even by himself, so like. Sokka's arc is very important to me because of how often it goes unnoticed or unmentioned in the face of other, more visible ones... And I feel like they're doing a great job at adapting it, slightly modernizing him ("tastes like chicken" notwithstanding) and making him stand out more while keeping the core of it. Sokka's arc was something I was already slightly concerned with initially, and the "we're removing Sokka's sexism" rumors didn't help assuage my fears given how important it was to help set the stage for the kind of person he is, so like. Genuinely I have to give them kudos for finding a way to take it out and keep how he changes and what we ultimately learn about him as a character that didn't feel forced. This is kind of just? A great episode for all of the characters, they all flow much better individually and with each other, and I genuinely really enjoyed it for the most part as opposed to the first that was a bit stilted in a lot of places- but I guess it being mostly just. All of the exposition and Aang's backstory stuff was the issue, and when they let the characters just... Be, it all works really well!

Oh my god Kyoshi is. Doing so much heavy lifting here, literally where was my girl for the entirety of the animated show, that Aang needed some major reality checks lmao. This is... A lot for the second episode when Aang is genuinely just still trying to get a handle on things, but I don't know that I really... Hate how she's preparing him and establishing the stakes? She's an absolute hardass here, but she's not overly cruel- she's genuinely trying to help as much as she can in her own area of expertise, because who knows when she'll next get to talk to Aang, and what if he never gets to hear this stuff? Would he just... Perhaps turn into who animated Aang did? Like, it's extremely harsh and kind of feels excessive for where the show and Aang are at right now, but... Genuinely I can't really say it's a bad thing for Aang to hear all of this, because I only know what happens in the universe where he doesn't. It's fucking tough to watch little Aang be verbally beaten down like this, but? Ultimately, what Kyoshi is saying are important things that Aang needs to come to understand sooner rather than later, and she IS trying to help, even if her way is harsh, so I can't really fault her for it too much because like. I understand where she's coming from all too well, both as someone who watched the original show and thus is aware of how tough the road ahead is going to be for Aang and everyone around him, and as someone who is a big OG Aang critic and wishes he could've heard all of this in the animated show. It's... A difficult scene to watch, but I don't think it's entirely without merit.

Holy shit I can't believe they kept Zuko trying to appeal to Katara even though they took out the pirates, I was genuinely surprised by that!!

Oh. OHHH. So. I was right about where they were going with Katara, wasn't I? I was fairly certain about it before, but how meek and unsure she is in battle despite how powerful she already is followed by a trauma flashback really cemented for me that they're leaning pretty heavily into the different ways Katara was affected by losing Kya. She's still very protective of her loved ones, she's still brave and powerful and driven... And, more than ever, she's also haunted by her mother's spirit with every step she takes. She's more afraid and cautious than her animated counterpart ever was, and it translates to her being "a doormat", but it's also... So clear to me she absolutely is not staying that way. This is the start of her journey, and it's just as valid as the original one. Seeing her stand against Zuko in the original show was never something that would've caused me to worry, but here I can feel her fear and how much it's holding her back.

Also, in their confrontation scene: Zuko is SCARY here! And that made this scene like. Genuinely really special to watch? Because I didn't even know that I was capable of finding Zuko intimidating anymore- he was always genuinely so honorable in the original that when rewatching you can kinda just... Very easily chalk his whole thing up to being misguided and lost- he does bad stuff, but when compared to the ruthlessness of the other villains he's barely a threat. But here Zuko is desperate, and he's scary, and he truly feels like a big bad evil guy when he's towering over non other than Katara who we so often get the best of him to the point where you kinda forget they weren't always matched in power and... This scene just. Really works for both of them individually, to show where they're at mentally and how they clash at this point in time... And, honestly? Knowing that this is an extremely temporary dynamic for them is actually really cool- that the next time they fight may very well be when Katara beat him? It's really cool. It doesn't scream Zutara, not at all, not in the way "I'll save you from the pirates" did, but? It feels important for them to have it, still- the Zuko and Katara dynamic always advances both of their individual stories, and this time is no different. It's... A bit hard to put into words just how visceral this scene felt and how excited it made me for both of their character arcs, as well as to the progress they're gonna make together, but. This was a great scene

Ngl it's really funny how everyone is flying in this adaptation

God I already miss Suki :(

Not really... Sure about why Sokka changed him mind about sticking Aang when he mostly hung out with Suki this episode, it seems mostly like he and Katara just want some more adventure, which is cool and not an issue at this point but? The episode seems to try and imply they're both there for Aang or for the world when it's pretty clear that isn't quite it, not yet, so it feels like it comes out of nowhere and a bit out of place. I do wish that angle was allowed to be a bit more present, because so far it just feels like either the characters are unaware of it yet or that the writing isn't and thus it's never gonna get addressed. In the animated show Katara was much more obviously self interested during parts of the first season, and Sokka was mostly there for her- which I liked, it gave room for both of them to grow into this new family unit they're creating with Aang over the course of the show! Here it seems like both of them initially wanted to help Aang and found they liked the adventure, and their goals on this adventure often feel a bit inconsistent? Katara is very obviously enjoying the freedom, but she seems to be more willing to go along for wherever because the plot aligns to make things she achieved herself on her road to becoming a master waterbender just... Happen to her? She didn't aquire the waterbending scroll, she didn't suggest and advocate for going to the NWT, they're just things that happen and suit her goals really well! In that sense she feels a bit less driven, as she doesn't have to be- she's obviously dedicated to training and becoming better, but she less creates opportunities rather than fall upon them, which? I'd find it a bit hard to buy this Katara stealing, and I guess maybe she doesn't suggest the NWT because as established they don't know what state its in and she's a bit more risk averse than in the original, but... While her taking less initiative isn't necessarily a bad thing here (again, so long as it is a part of her arc rather than a continuous state), it muddles her motives a bit and serves to make the group dynamic a bit confusing. Is she there for Aang? For adventure? For waterbending? For herself? Of course it's ultimately all of those, but. I think presenting all of them right at the start makes her motivations a bit too confusing, especially when paired with Sokka who, in this order: wanted to abandon Aang out of caution, wanted to help Aang because it'd be the right thing to do, wanted to abandon Aang because he wanted to go back home, and then after hanging out with Suki for an entire episode was suddenly worried about leaving Aang alone. Their connection didn't really deepen in any way, so it feels like his motivation is much less about Aang but about what he could gain, except he doesn't frame it like that either! Idk it's confusing, and genuinely I can't tell if it's just. Bad/inconsistent writing or if it's meant to be A Thing, like, Katara and Sokka trying to find their reason for "abandoning" home. I can certainly twist the events to be that if I think about it enough, as I just did, but... Ultimately I do think there was a bit of a failure here with presenting too many motivations and not committing to any single one. It's both way too complex, and also not complex enough to work, and so in the end it's just confusing. It's truly not that big a deal but the conversation at end of this episode on Appa didn't feel authentic or earned to that episode I just saw, which was the real issue imo. I desperately hope this isn't the end of these two trying to justify their journey, and that thus turns out to have been intentional, but frankly... I do just have a feeling it was a bit of unfortunate mangled writing.

That said, I'm actually not really feeling Zhao? I've read a post that said he gets progressively more hateble as opposed to the original where he started out as immediately hateble so I'm curious if that's what's gonna happen to me too! It was cool to see Ozai though for sure haha!

I do have to shout out the way Iroh and Zhao interact with this forced politeness as something that stood out to me in an extremely good way- it's stilted, and awkward, and it's 100% meant to be, and it worked fantastically with the contrast to Zuko's being so direct and brash. I'm not like, an expert by any means, but I do have an interest in Japanese culture and it definitely felt reminiscent of the way respect and politeness is so important and entrenched in the culture right down to the language structure- it felt a bit like Zuko was just talking casually until Iroh came along and started talking in keigo, if that makes sense to anyone? Might be talking out of my ass here but that's what it reminded me of so I thought I'd mention it. It was really interesting to see regardless!

Anyway I liked this episode a lot more! It still had its issues, but they feel more like growing pains here if that makes sense? There's definitely a sense that this show is slowly getting comfortable in its own skin as a separate entity from the original, so I hope that trend continues! Evidently the direction they're going here is not for everyone, but everything I've seen so far does feel extremely like it ultimately came from fans who have their own opinions on the original show rather than people just looking to make bold new twists. A lot of the changes here, while they might initially feel blasphemous, are also ones I'd have made to the original, and the ones that aren't don't feel like they're made thoughtlessly. I'm not happy with everything I've seen so far, but I'm absolutely excited to keep watching because I genuinely do have faith in this show managing to pull off the big swings they're taking.

Also, I think it's important to note- I'm the biggest Kataang hater, I hate them, truly, I do! And yet as strange as it is and as much as I hate to admit it? There was a genuinely cute scene between Katara and Aang this episode, and if they make their relationship a bit more equal going forward... While it likely still won't make me ship them, I do genuinely think I could stomach seeing them end up together if they stay away from the worst aspects of the ship in the original show. I won't be happy about it, ever, but. There's something to be said for them managing to make it tolerable even for the biggest opposers of the ship. I still hope it won't happen! But if it does... I hope it's done tastefully and in a more thought out way than it was originally.

[mllebabushkat]

☀️ Warrior Nun S2E6 🌙

PSA: i didn't survive this ep lakdsj;gjaskjda

haha my whiplash from Confusion to OH OH YOUNG SUZANNE

AND SHANNON

(wow i missed her and i barely knew her T^T)

so either shannon's older than i expected or superion is younger than i expected???

but more importantly

superion's halo is SO POWERFUL?????

she's got that a) touch of death palm technique Lite Version AND b) nifty overwatch lookin shield scuse me ava when will you

once again OST SLAPS

SHE IS SO BADASS!!,!,!,’cbnncbdbdbfj also cocky hahaha i love her

this fight's fave move: double neck skewer!

firstly, halo rejecting looks GNARLY

secondly, w h y (grief? fully drained? it somehow knew she failed to protect someone due to her own ego? severity of her own moral failing? i want. answers)

The PRIDE in bea’s look as ava talks 🤩 i am hanging on to every single avatrice interaction for my liFE

cam trying to summon the boogeyman is the horror trope i didn't know i needed ahahaha

MICHAEL'S GOT A NUKE tony stark lookin ass

"we are not both dying over some interdimensional power grab" u tell em!!!!1 (such a frustrating and common trope, why must the hero always be the sacrificial lamb for some lofty goal?)

yo that is one DIRTY look bea gave him tho lmfao

on today's episode of bullying william: "foster" what a dumb name L u delusional little shit

cut to vincent el bastardo

"and we shall contact god by text" the ABSURDITY PFFF

*what's in the box voice* what did adriel sayyyyyy????

obligatory fuck off adriel

picking out tmrws outfit slay boyo 🤡💁‍♀️is it me or does he look like Hugh Jackman with that new beard

back to the blessed blorbos!

team super cam aw <3

OH NO U DONT TOUCH HER GIRL LIKE THAT

protective!bea i'm swooningg

journalist!yasmine is so cuteeee

CAMILLA UR CHASTITY HAHAHAHAHHAA

clutching my pearls but also yes girliE GET SOMEEEEEEEE

is that the fuckin,, lalisa sonf? v hype but ngl doesn't fuuully fit the scene But i'll let it slide :)

“well then warrior nun, see you on the other side” 😍😍

you tell me that won't be one of her affectionate nicknames once they settle down and have their happily ever after i DARE you-

“do you know how i know that adriel isn't god, vincent? because he chose to speak to you” OUCHHHHHHHHHH

ok i'm calling it now that pointy cross is hanging Very Ominously over the stage,.,,

adriel choosing to mimic the medici’s bastardised image of Jesus the irony is not lost on me :)

so uhhhhhh why does the halo only sputter out at plot relevant moments? *shakes writers in frustration*

LILITHS TEETH VAGINA COSTUME

i'm so sorry but lilith girl they did u so fucking dirty wtf is this shitty look costumes dept u were doing so wellllll TAT

oh dear ava 🥺

yall there’s nothing that hurts me more than a well laid plan going wrong

lilith hurtling off the roof - HAHAHAHAHA YEET BITCH

where tf was ava hiding her helmet???? up her-?

kristian: “let it go” ah ofc they planned for this

insert it’s a trap !!!!!!!! meme

i can’t watch thissssssddsddd

oh boy the cross tip hanging ever lower like the sword of Damocles

I CALLED IT

nooooo rest in pieces duretti shdhdhajahgdhd

jesus that's brutal,, gnarly counter: 2

michael: "god isn’t real" maybe the true message all along was atheism :)

CAMILLA AND HER GUNNNNNN BIG BRAINNNNNN

AVA DESCENDING LIKE THE REAL ANGEL SHE IS

vincent seeing her-

lilith ex machina swooping in-

OK MICHAEL GOT A STAB IN gnarly counter: 3 (once again loving the gore this season !)

BOTH ava and michael choosing to sacrifice themselves in that moment PLS NO

ooh love the millisecond yellow sheen on adriels eyes

sister ARMS- sorry- i meant sister dora HELLO THERE

“come on pretty boy” ahahshdhdksjagahaha bea ily

back at base

ok fess up who's the goddamn snitch

(small eyeroll at the 'oops i destroyed the macguffin detonator' trope)

SUPERION NO

NO

NO

(did she die ????)

never has a cross been so hateful as the one drawn in blood fuck you william u little dipshit

SUPERION NO 😭😭😭😭

did lilith just save ava by teleporting her

jahdkclcpsjsxnxoxmxnsiskncc

this episode took my heart and shredded it in a meat grinder

superion has shot up my favourites list this season and for her to end like that-

and duretti!

but mostly superion TAT i'm suing for her And mary >:(((

ANYWAY

not keeping calm and carrying on-

[oviids]

pls share some of your spn fic recs 🥺🥺

ok, a few things first:

followers and mutuals who do not have supernatural brainworms, kindly avert your eyes

i don’t normally rec or even read much fanfic any more but this is a CRISIS ok (cont.)

there is so. much. content for deancas out there and i have incredibly high standards, several ancient ao3 bookmarks, can speedread, and want to spare you guys the experience of wading through it all.

i also have a section for spn femslash since I was pretty into that back in the day (sadly a lot less fan content for this :/)

I don’t really like au’s or pure smut (I honestly usually just skim or skip those scenes) so if you’re mainly looking for that kind of thing this probably won’t be very helpful to you. jsyk.

i’m not great at describing stuff but i’ll do my best, i’ll also try and add tw’s when neccesary.

i wil try and keep updating this with any other decent fics i find, feel free to rec stuff too since i’m like 7 years behind.(edit 1/25/21) this is getting looooong so i’m going to start making another list on my spn blog rather than update this one

(edit 1/3/21) since this has gotten pretty long i’ve added rating/approximate word counts and marked my particular favorites with an asterisk.

Dean/Cas fic:

So Says The Sword*** - explicit/85k. FUCK its good...au/time travel where dean is not pulled out of hell by cas and says yes to becoming the michael sword. honestly could serve as an alternative to actually watching the show, if you want to get into dean/cas without actually doing that to yourself.

Fata morgana.*  - teen/6k, pst s9 finale. very bela centric and i love it, she finds cas looking for dean in hell.

Redemption Road -misc/600+k. an incredibly long fic from a collaborative writing group back in the day. canon divergent from the end of s6 on, has a cool take on godstiel and the leviathans, as well as the lovecratian mythos connection. ngl when i reread it i only made it about 28% in but imo the casual reader can actually stop around there, the rest concerns a lovecraftian apocalypse that is still good (i think i don’t remember it very well) but not required to enjoy the first half. if you prefer i have an ebook version i can send you on gdrive.

Someone Who's Feeling For Me* - mature/45k, s12. they run into lisa braeden and dean thinks cas is into her while cas thinks dean still likes her. treats lisa way better than the show ever did and the miscommunication is pretty funny rather than annoying.

a turn of the earth - mature/95k. time travel fic where cas from s10 keeps showing up in deans life from a few years before s1 to right before the hellhounds take his soul.  slow burn, good character study, and at one point cas punches the dad in the face and it rules.

On the Wings of War - teen/85k, canon divergent s5. dean accidentally becomes the Horseman of War. plays fun, fast and loose with biblical lore, michael has some rights.

Named - mature/95k, alternate s5. EXTREMELY blasphemous in a fun sexy way. manages to predict metatron almost to a T. there’s one major character death and its literally jesus christ, everyone is very sad about it and it sets the rest of the story rolling. an alternate interpretation of cas’ mission to raise dean from hell which had me on the floor. ngl its kind of misogynistic at points, but its from 2010 and tracks with late oughts-2010 spn (sorry anna the author did you dirty here:/).

The Girlfriend Experience - explicit/15k. uhhh i don’t normally rec or even read smutty stuff unless someone i know is specifically asking for it but this has stuff like sam trying to be a good ally and dean thinking holding hands with cas is ‘kinda gay :/’ minutes after having gay sex with him.

i crippled your heart a hundred times - explicit/19k, s8. cas confesses his feelings and dean spends a long time getting his head out of his ass about it. truly hits different after the actual confession, despite being written six years early it feels like its actually what could have gone down more or less if the writers weren’t talentless demons who hate us.

My Roots Take Flight** - mature/125k. reverse au where cas is a hunter and dean’s an angel...OR IS IT???? an alternate retelling of s4. tw for briefly being set in a psychiatric hospital/the hospital being mentioned somewhat frequently throughout the fic, plus more references to torture in hell and heaven than usual.

The One Thing You Can't Lose* - teen/4k.you know those posts about how cas is a super-strong super-tough ancient warrior but he just lets dean tug him around because he likes it? thats it thats the fic.

Hands, From Which All Things Are Built - teen/14k, post s8′s ‘goodbye stranger.’ cas is on the run with the angel tablet but keeps in touch with sam and dean by text, he and dean still manage to be terrible at Actual communication.

Autrement, Danger - or, The Account of an Exceedingly Long Day - mature/30k, post s11. a monster that takes the appearance of your soulmate leads to some wild miscommunications and dealing with years of repression, also dean gets to see cas’ true form which is always cool. tw for non-graphic mentions of underage sexual assault/sex work.

Down to Agincourt - mature/explicit/900++++k, endverse continuation. endverse!cas survives his encounter with lucifer and discovers another time-displaced dean from s7. i’ve only read the two of four parts but its really good, veeeeery slow burn, has a lot of fun oc’s and takes a rather surprising but (imo) entertaining and intriguing turn into Hellenic history and mythology. usual tw’s for endverse/endverse!cas but nothing graphic, it’s actually pretty light-hearted (relatively speaking of course).

Nothing Equals the Splendor** - explicit/8k, THEE finale fix it fic you’ve been waiting for! posits that the entire final episode was just a (very bad and lame) djinn’s vision.

like moses and batman and james dean - explicit/31k, post s8. explores dean’s trauma and internalized homophoba from his technically canon experience with sex work and its impact on his relationship with cas. the sex work itself isn’t really shown in any detail but it’s still a relatively heavy fic.

Crazy Diamonds - explicit/25k, s4/alternate s14. fresh-out-of-hell dean and dean from 10 years in the future are displaced from time and sent to each other’s present.

where the weeds take root - explicit/30k. au where the men of letters kick them out of the bunker and they accidentally move out into the country, get over their codependence and semi retire. featuring chicken coop building, sam volunteering at a dog shelter, gardening, and blissfully mundane domesticity.

No Resting Place - teen/6k. djinn dream fic, switches back and forth between cas’ dream of being married to dean and retired from hunting to the aftermath when he wakes up. tw for brief mention of suicide since, y’know, djinn dream.

any port in a storm - mature/52k. post s8 finale. cas and dean have to pose as a couple going through a rough patch for a case and actually deal with their emotional baggage, cas struggles with being human and metatron is up to stuff.

all this and heaven too* - explicit/7k. in the author’s own words ‘...a love letter to every trans person who ever projected onto Dean Winchester.’ absolutely unzipped me emotionally and theologically, its just. so good. tw for very brief mentions of internalized transphobia/dysphoria.

Because it is* - mature/6k, finale fix it. killing chuck does not bring back anyone back and the winchesters spend a very long time dealing with what they’ve lost, cas and dean SOMEHOW still manage to have signifigant communication issues even after the confession. tw for suicidal thoughts/brief attempt.

Vena Amoris and Other Old-Fashioned Bullshit* - teen/4k, s6. when cas fell for dean it automatically soulbonded/angel married them, shenanigans ensue when dean finds out during the angel’s civil war. funny and actually written back when s6 was airing so cas is still (or at least pretending to be) kind of an OP asshole which is fun.

Rinse, Repeat - teen/3k, s8. angsty character study of cas as he’s reprogrammed and trained to kill dean. not really dean/cas since its just cas’ pov of canon events but its beautifully written and ends with him snapping out of it through the power of love (also now a canon event!).

Emergence - explicit/59k, canon divergent after s11. dean meets a hunter he only recognizes as their friend claire novak’s missing father, but soon realizes he might be the answer behind the mysterious void in his memories and feelings (aka everyone’s memories of cas are completely wiped away for three years).

Cuckoo And Nest - explicit/10k, early established relationship/character study, cas tries to figure out how he fits into dean’s life and space in the bunker.

Build a Home* - teen/20k, canon divergent s12. sam and eileen are cute and turn the bunker into men of letters/hunters hq and everyone but cas moves in, mutual miscommunication issues and pining ensues.

Down in the River - teen/5k, early s8, cas prays to dean in purgatory while sam and dean try to figure out a way to get him out.

Teaching Poetry to Fish* - mature/52k, ?? BC through the entire series/canon divergent s14 and 15. retelling of crucial scenes throughout the shows timeline from cas’ pov, feat. actual fish and poetry.

the minor fall, the major lift - gen/4k, post confession/finale fixit. dean goes into the empty to save cas and runs into several old friends (and enemies).

With the Kisses of His Mouth* - teen/3k, gen later seasons. dean and cas keep kissing by accident.

Remaining Grace - explicit/109k, alternate s6. au where cas asks dean for help with raphael and dean, of course, does. tw for temporary major character death/semi-graphic depictions of alcohol withdrawal.

The face of heaven.* - teen/10k, au, dean is a regular guy and cas is a fallen star (think ‘stardust’, kinda).

Stories Are Made of Mistakes*  - teen/5k. newly human cas has trouble getting used to a human body and humanity in general, but still figures out that he and dean are A Thing before dean does.

Hurry Up And Wait - mature/21k, canon divergent s12. a fairyland and quite possibly LOTR related case comes up and dean goes full fanboy, mary is introduced to the wonders of the peter jackson adaptions, many references and comparisons (including between cas and dean’s ‘friendship’ and arwen/aragon). also charle is still alive and has just been doing fairy stuff this whole time.

There Are Many Things - explicit/28k, s9. cas is extremely lonely/touch-starved and trying to figure out this whole human thing, as well as where he and dean stand after being kicked out of the bunker.

It's A Long Life to Always Be Longing - teen/40k, post s11 finale. amara helps dean by putting him in a magical coma so he can finally get some much needed rest and show him possible futures for him, sam and cas. meanwhile sam and cas go on a roadtrip (or several) to find componets for a spell to wake dean up. really good sam and cas friendship, they actually talk about their shared lucifer trauma and stuff.

Non-Photo Blue - gen/2k, s4/5/alternate s5. fifty moments from cas’ memories of dean.

Tall Grass - explicit/57k, canon divergent post series. cas becomes the ultimate plant dad. feat the wayward sisters gang, cathartic character growth, fun oc’s, domesticity, and lots of actual botanical info-dumping.

on vessels - no rating/gen/2k. established dean/cas, cas tells dean about how he used to imagine what it would be like to have him as his vessel.

search for tomorrow on every shore* - teen/11k, post-finale (extremely derogatory). some angels in jack’s new heaven act out and dean gets temporarily resurrected in 2003 and runs into his younger self.

Architecture of the Minotaur’s Heart - explicit/45k, very canon divergent post s1. dean’s new house seems to have a life and mind of its own, while in his dreams he sees glimpses of a world and apocalypse that never came to be and an angel that looks strangely like his mysterious neighbor, cas. loosely inspired by the book house of leaves (which i highly recommend for fans of weird horror).

The Distance Of The Setting Sun - explicit/17k, post s5. established dean/cas relationship, team free will finally takes advantage of cas’ abilities to go on vacation around the world.

diamond star halo - teen/5k, s11. dean lets cas use him as a temporary vessel while he recovers from rowena’s spell, sam is a long-suffering third-wheel.

Make Known** - teen/16k, s6/7. dean struggles to understand how cas could have become his enemy and whether he ever truly knew him in the first place.

blunt little instrument* - mature/1.4k, post finale. dean finally confronts his father in heaven, very cathartic.

my heart a compass*** - teen/10k, post confession. the empty forces cas to re-experience his most regretted moments while dean tries to snap him out of it and bring him home.

A Crash Course in Someone Else's History - teen/11k, s6. cas from the very start of s4 is brought forward in time by s6!cas to distract the brothers from his and crowley’s plans.

The Cuckoo Father - mature/8k, s7 au. the woman who found cas in the river post-leviathans does not marry him bc he was sent to her by god or whatever, but actually identifies him as jimmy novak and sends him back to claire and amelia.

The Dead Dean Clause* - teen/5k, post alt s5 ending. team free will celebrates surviving taking down lucifer by getting blitzed, cas lies to a cop and gets an impromptu driving lesson. title/description sound dark i know but it’s actually very funny and light.

Suck It, Judy Garland - mature/20k, s12 (after the ‘i love you...i love all of you’ episode). cas and sam have to pretend to be a couple for a case and dean is NOT happy about it.

By Daylight and In Dream - teen/16k, s5. pre-dean/cas, dean invites cas to use his dreams to hide from the other angels. tw for very brief mention of a memory/dream of alastair sexually assaulting dean.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven - mature/22k, post-canon. an actually happy (if sometimes bittersweet) heaven endgame written several years ago, though some details are rather eerily similar to the show’s ending.

heaven is a place on earth* - teen/2k. dean’s pov of some of the times cas left him behind throughout the show, and one alternate ending where he finally gets to stay.

I Cleanse The Mirror - teen/20k, alternate s6. dean’s body is stolen by an ancient elemental and his soul has to hitch a ride in cas’ vessel.

an exploration of gender; angelic*** - mature/4k. *oscar isaac voice* lets get into angel gender politics!! aka cas is trans.

Zenith - explicit/33k, s9. after 9x06 an angry witch curses cas with the ability to see supernatural beings and human souls.

La cucina. - gen/3k, alt s9. dean goes wild helping a newly-human cas find out what kinds of food he likes, or the early s9 domesticity we deserved!

Dean Winchester, Cocksucker at Rest***** - teen/7k, post-finale. john and mary finally come over for dinner and john reacts to dean/cas in a rather predictable fashion. SOOOOOOOOO good omg, its so funny and a little sad and very very cathartic. part of a series that has a few other really good short fics.

The Way You Didn't Go - teen/5k, s15. coda to 15.09, dean has nightmares about the moc!cas timeline.

On Drowning - teen/28k. dean saves cas after he nearly drowns, they both try and deal with the physical/mental fallout (aka the fic where thee iconic “you only touch me when you think I’m dead or dying” originates). tw for realistic depictions of drowning/triage/misc medical information.

The Thirty-Six Questions That Lead to Love* - mature/13k. claire has dean and cas pretend to be her gay dads for a case and they play the titular 36 question game, get mistaken for swingers, and birdwatch, among other things.

Assorted F/F stuff:

Deep Breaths* - mary/ellen, au where mary said no to azazel’s deal and let john stay dead, still becomes a milf.

Like Rebel Diamonds - krissy/claire, they become hunter gf’s on the hunt for cas to kick his ass for taking jimmy. not-so-stealth dean/cas as well.

To Ash and Bone - anna/ruby, same author as the previous fic (p much all of her stuff is good from what i recall). au where ruby is a witch and helps anna when she’s cursed.

Holy Clockwork Angels - jo/ruby, STEAMPUNK au with very cool worldbuiilding.

At Day's End - jo/anna (my fucking KINGDOM for more jo/anna content, the dean/cas parallels are allllll there), au where they are both at the camp in the endverse and gfs.

these posts - ok so not actually a fic but i’m now obsessed with this hannah/meg dynamic.

Tagelied - mary/ellen, the true story of how ellen got into hunting before angels interfered.

Hell's Bells** - meg/abaddon, alternate s8/9 where meg survives crowley’s attack with sam’s help and teams up with abaddon (who she has a sk year old crush on) to take back hell.

The Ecstasy of the Rose - anna/ruby, anna travels back in time to escape heaven and becomes a signifigant part of ruby’s old human life.

Angel Underground - anna/jo, kind of an urban fantasy au with a very intriguing premise (sadly its very short, i’d love to see more if this ‘verse).

Clover, Flame - billie/mary, billie was always the reaper that showed up to take mary after her death(s) over the years.

Drag Me To Heaven - anna/ruby, a variant on the ‘last night on earth’ thing with dean.

Come Home* - jo/anna, canon-divergent au where anna is the new waitress at the roadhouse and helps jo set up a (probably not really) haunted house for halloween.

[king-wilhelm]

Sara calling the police at the end… is gonna cause trouble right? Or has August changed his mind about telling the police about the drugs and stuff??

I mean, It’s definitely gonna cause trouble but then again, she did the right thing imo. She’s been a fantastic sister and she got lost in her emotions for a bit this season but I do think she wants to fix it and do right by Simon. I want them to fix wtv went wrong :/

But also. Idk if this is unpopular but I quite liked sara and august. I can’t explain in what kind of messed up way they fit, but they fit? Idk.

August on the other hand. 😐😐😐 ngl I keep waiting for a redemption arc for him because that’s just the kind of person I am but every time it looks like he’s gonna try and fix his mistakes he fucks up in a BIGGER way . Idek his arc STILL interests me because they keep writing his emotions like he *does* care but also keep writing him to be a screw up so like??? What are u doing with that kid? It’s got me hooked lol . Side note tho malte naileddddd the role the hesitation the apprehension the guilt clashing with the craving for power.

[yesimwriting]

hi, i love all your work! could i please request headcanons for what it'd be like to go from being enemies to lovers with nikolai lantsov.

thank you:)

A/N maybe i moved this up on my request lists bc i woke up today and went 'nikolai lantsov'

--

- i'm being a little liberal with cannon bc my mind first went to 'princess! reader who hates nikolai bc they're competitive and then they have to team up together to try to get their parents to break up their arranged marriage but fall in love in the process (this might be a little undetailed but i'm thinking of writing a full fic or mini-series with this plotline so let me know if you'd be interested!! i could see a smutty ending to that fic but idk,, lmk what you thing ig lol)

- Ok so first off enemies to lovers with the loml nikolai lantsov would be SO GOOD bc he's so dramatic and obviously attractive so even though you hate him you know he's hot,, there's never a dramatic realization that he's attractive bc it's just a fact

- butttt you'd rather give up any claim you have to your family's throne than feed his already gigantic ego

- okk but lets get to the beginning of your enemies to lovers relationship

- so basically every summer your parents go and stay with Nikolai's family at this super fancy vacation home bc your parents are both royalty and your kingdoms have a very healthy relationship

- just bc it's the summer season doesn't mean it's summer vacation,, so as children for about a month you two share a tutor,, and when i tell you that created a rivalry so fast i mean it

- you're not the eldest princess and you're always trying to be the best for your parents approval, nikolai just wanted to impress the really smart girl who had a pretty laugh (poor nikolai lol,, he had no way of knowing how important being the best in school no matter what was to your self esteem)

- maybe if you two could communicate you’d like each other a little better at this point but it starts when you’re pretty young and by the time you’re like 13 it’s a solidified dynamic (and 13 year olds are the MEANEST and most insecure people in the world so that’s when your relationship turns to full enemies)

- now that you’re 13 you have more princess-y requirements, especially over the summer. So when you see that Nikolai gets to practice with swords and gets more free time while you have to practice setting tables you hate him more than ever. 

- Nikolai senses that you’re extra hostile but he has no idea why,, he tries asking once but he makes a joke about how ‘maybe you’re jealous bc youre no longer the center of my attention’ and even though he’s just trying to ease the tension you feel like he’s making fun of you

- so that’s when things get aggressive, but at that point summer is almost over so it’s whatever

- next summer comes and you’re still SO MAD at him,, so when you get to the estate you’re like ‘i’m not even talking to him idc how quiet these next three months are’ 

- and you get there all determined to hate him,, but once you get there and see him something in you cracks bc he had the audacity to spend the last year going through puberty AND LIKE HE’S ALWAYS BEEN CUTE BUT THIS IS SOMETHING ELSE 

- so youre mentally panicking bc how do you even talk to someone that looks like that now???? but then you remember that you didnt even want to talk him so in a panic youre like ‘maybe i can avoid him and he’ll just assume it’s bc i hate him bc i do,, who cares if he’s unbelievably hot now’ 

- nikolai doesn’t assume anything, he just gets to the estate and is like ‘why hasn’t she insulted me yet?? is she suddenly too good to give me attention?’ so during the lessons that you still share he gets an idea

- he decides to one-up you in everything bc that’s always gotten a reaction out of you 

- it works,, every time he corrects you or steals an answer from you, you’re ready to snap but then you look at him and take in his stupidly perfect face and  you just shut up 

- nikolai thinks it’s not working so he just tries harder

- by the end of week one you can’t take it anymore so when the tutor leaves at the end of lessons you snap, you tell him off for how often he’d repeat what you said and change a few words and get all the praise from the tutor

- on the inside he’s like ‘took long enough’ but the more you rant he’s like ‘is she okay???’ he’d be more concerned if you weren’t threatening his pride and at this point he’s still annoyed bc if you were that annoyed you should have just talked to him instead of ignoring him for a week

- he’s thinking that just bc you got really pretty over the last year doesn’t make you too good to yell at him on the daily

- the worst thing anyone can do to nikolai is ignore him LMAO (lowkey relatable)

- so he starts arguing with you and you’re so upset that you forget about how aggressively attractive he is 

- and you two are alone in this room and the more you argue the closer you two get

- the climax of the argument is when neither of you are yelling, you’re just so mad you’re beyond raising your voice and once you’re both at that point it goes like this: 

“Nikolai Lantsov, you are the most insufferable person I’ve ever met” 

“Well then, Darling, you should look in a mirror.” 

“You are so entitled, so ridiculously self obsessed that it ruins your attractiveness.” 

“...” he literally just like blinks twice. “You think I’m attractive?” 

“Uh? No--i didn’t say that at all, maybe if you didn’t have the language comprehension of a child you’d understa--” he just reaches forward, grabs the collar of your dress, and kisses you. 

- it’s your first kiss so you have no idea what you’re doing and it’s with some one you CANT STAND and you’re so mad bc you had expectations for your first kiss and he’s taken that from you--but the thing is,, 

- he’s good at it. Like really good at it. Like so good it makes you curious about what he does the nine months of the year he’s not stuck here with you bc there’s no way he hasn’t had practice. 

- but you’re also extremely confused and nervous and aware of how stupid you’re being (and a little hormonal bc being 14 isn’t easy) and then he places his hand on your cheek and that snaps some sense of reality into you bc it’s one thing to enjoy the kiss but another thing entirely to want him to escalate it

- so you place one hand on his chest and push him off of you slightly. He takes the hint, pulls away enough to look at you and then you two just stare at each other 

- your hand is still on his chest and you have absolutely no idea what comes next, but you find yourself looking at his lips

- since you haven’t slapped him or pulled away more than a few inches he thinks maybe things are okay so he leans forward slightly and kisses you again. 

- you reciprocate a little too fast, the kiss lasts two seconds before thinking about how insane you’re being so you push away entirely. 

- He lets you go,, and in the most awkward display ever you’re like ‘uh I need to go,, i can’t be late to ball preparation lessons’ and you leave that room faster than you’ve ever left a room in your entire life. 

- the next day you consider pretending to be sick to avoid him but that would only give him more power over the situation so you go,, and he’s just sitting there calmly

- youre on edge the entire day but he never even jokes about it

- a part of you is a tiny bit annoyed bc who kisses you and then pretends it never happened? but overall, you’re relieved 

- the days pass and it never comes up but now whenever you two argue you think of how quickly kissing him both shut him up and got rid of your tension 

- the summer goes by quickly, your usual dynamic has returned and you wonder if he even remembers kissing you. twice. in a row. 

- the next couple of years are normal,, even when you two no longer take lessons together you still dont like him. He’s just so assured and he takes such joy in bothering you. 

- and then one summer your parents sit you down and they’re like ‘we need to plan the future alliance of our kingdom’ 

- you’re a little confused bc you’re rarely allowed to sit in on these things bc you’re a girl and you’re basically meant to just be a royal’s bride--and then you realize why you’re there. 

- you start protesting before your father can finish announcing your engagement 

- the parents were smart bc they announced it at the end of summer so you two couldn’t drive them crazy or conspire

- the first thing you do when you get back to your castle is write to him for the first time ever 

- your letter is basically ‘pls tell me you’re doing something’ 

- the two of you talk until you come up with the plan to get your parents to break up your engagement 

- your parents dont really care about your feelings and they expect the two of you to argue with them,, but they care about the kingdoms

- so you two decide that if you act like youre so in love that you let your duties slip the engagement will end,, especially if you two are in love in a toxic way 

- so the next summer you two make sure to flirt and act like youre totally obsessed with each other and skip lessons together and just are constantly together and acting like you’re on a honeymoon

- your parents are like ?? since when 

- at one point you flirt with a random guard just so Nikolai can have a ‘jealous outburst’ while your families are strolling through the garden 

- ngl jealous nikolai had you ready to RISK IT ALL,, you were ready to drop the plan and marry him on the spot 

- he notices bc he notices everything about you and when your family walks away he gives you a quick kiss and youre stunned,, much to his delight 

- your desire to break up your engagement takes a slight backseat in your mind bc you decide to set off on a secret goal to make him flustered

- it doesn’t take much, your dresses get a little more risky, your comments get a little more suggestive

- the only problem?? he seems to have his own personal goal and it’s to make you even more flustered than he is

- soon the two of you are lost in layers of pretend and competition

- when your parents are finally thinking about delaying the engagement and keeping you two away from each other until you calm down a little (i feel bad for them,, an entire summer of being surrounded by the ULTIMATE sexual tension) 

- you’re sad and you don’t know why bc this is what you wanted, but then Nikolai stands up and says that you two planned for this and he has the letters to prove it (he was ready to drop the receipts LMAO) and youre like ??what are you doing?

- and he says he’d rather marry you then never see you again bc now all he wants is to get know you bc he has no idea how he wasted so much time arguing with you 

- and you just meltttt but your in front of your entire family and his as well so you just sit there for a minute and then you tell him you feel the same way 

- but the summer’s over

- you kiss him before leaving and he says you’ll have to visit bc he can’t go an entire year without seeing your ‘pretty face’ 

- you promise to visit him soon

- your at home for exactly a day and a half before getting an invitation to visit him 

- you laugh bc the only way that letter could get to you that fast is if he mailed it before you even left 

- you say yes obviously,, and spend some time having a really cute fall-dating vibes together until you figure out how you really feel 

- and you feel like he makes your heart STOP and that’s why you hated him,, bc you didn’t like being vulnerable 

[nightswithkookmin]

Hi Goldy.

I PURPLE 💜 your blog so much. I was reading every single post like the little ALT shipper that I am. Fell in love with BTS and jikook 🐰🐥 after one video.

Anyway I’m here to ask. Have you seen the VLIVE from eight days ago when BTS won the artist award at the AMA? They sip champagne and eat pizza and cake, when the WiFi goes down and Namjoon shades them big time and then Jim comes in to save the day ‘we love our company very much’ and which Jhope goes ‘you said that very suddenly’. NJ hugs Jin and he says NJ, Jhope and him love the company loads / the most.

Jim in asks what about us? To which NJ replies ‘you can love them less’ and everyone looks confused 💀💀💀And Jungkook suddenly understands and shakes hands with NJ.

They look at the staff behind the screen (Jin in particular).

What in the conspiracy does it mean!?!

If you have an idea 💡 would love to hear. I genuinely can’t imagine lol I’m so new to what they’re hinting.

Saranghae 🥰

AS YOU SHOULD SIS, I ROCK 💜

If I say so my self

Lol.

I don't know if conspiracy is what I'd call it. Much like a shade gone wrong. An ironical situation exacerbated by the Joonie touch😫

Namjoon has a quirky sense of humor that often flies over people's heads and make things unintentionally and unnecessarily awkward most times😭😭😭

For instance, he just called himself a perv on national television which has sparked debates and threads about him watching too much porn or stigmatizing the BDSM community describing Masochists as Pervs.

Didn't see that one coming did ya🤣

While i got the porn/BDSM references off the bat i didn't make anything of his statement. Actually thought it was funny but here we are reporting and blocking user perky nipples in a harness.

In my opinion, when Jin says he loves the company it's funny and ironic because he has a reputation for giving the company grief hence Tae's reaction and let's not act like they didn't lowkey roast the company in there for five seconds. Lol.

Had vlive not been for hybe they would have dragged it for filth in that moment 🤣🤣💀

I love when they get messy and start throwing gang signs around 🙃

RM joining in with a subtext threw every one for a loop with their confused looks on their faces. Lol. Lost me there for a second too not gonna lie. But he does that a lot, in Run episodes, Seasons greetings with that whole JK is the leader of the Males and females comments- knocked the amusement right out of JK's eyes😭

Should have left it at 'Males'😭

NAMJOOONAH KIM NAMJOONNNNN!!!!! lol

His sense of humor is....

I don't know Hobi to be the rebel type- other than instances when he'd said he almost left the company. I think he is rather a model tanny. But Joonie can be a bit rebellious almost as rebellious as Jk or lowkey insubordinate like Jin but because he is a leader that gets mitigated most times💀

Ngl, I take Jin seriously when he throw shade💀 He's sneaky like that.

Suga checked out of the conversation and didn't participate in whatever the joke was- alright lemme cut the bull. The BTS x Hybe kumbaya agenda is as kumbaya as my two cheeks behind me. They try though. In my opinion.

The boys will throw shade like they are not throwing shade but they are throwing shade. FREE HYBE🤣🤣🤣🤣

I think what RM was implying was they finna simp and kiss the company's ass while the others can be more objective or subjective or not so blindly subservient to the company.

I think you should ask the Korean bloggers for their thoughts on it to reflect the nuances of that conversation as I don't speak or understand Korean.

Given as it was the poor streaming service and the app unable to handle that large number, I take it they would have segued into roasting the company for providing such poor services- but since it's their own company then it's like they can't do that so they powered down. But they didn't expect the others to power down too if you know what I mean.

Much like 'we love and respect the company so much we won't criticize them- but y'all feel free to tear them apart" kinda vibe.

It also felt like an inside joke or something. It felt as if Jin was shading some of the members or hinting at a possible friction between the company and some members- if it was shade to the members my money will be on JM, Suga💀

JM because he actually has 'reasonssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss' to love the company less- from the blatant disrespect not informing him his song which he produced was on a movie as huge as Marvel eternal. For him to have found out the way he did was just bad and reflects poorly on the company.

Like we know they don't own the right to their songs but STILL. You don't gotta make it obvious damn. Like did you not seek his permission first when Marvel called to ask permission to use the song? Sus.

Did y'all not give him a cut of the fee paid upfront whats up?! Jimin, my guy...

And if they really allegedly put him in Prestige class on that flight unwillingly whew them finna catch an ass whooping in the backyard at noon if I lay eyes on em🤺

I can let squeezing him out of Eternals slide, killing his flex on the gram- now that's where I draw the line!

They can't come embarrass me and my bias out here like that! Like what's that!

Bling bling on our wrist, gucci in our hair, first class is where we at.

And they shouldn't think we don't know Jimin don't have his own studio at hybe yet

Or may be he do. Don't know don't care. But I need him in the studio with a view of the pool and Jungkook glistening naked ass with a tray and a glass of Soju at his beck and call. His titties better sparkle.

Didn't even give him voice training when he needed it and constantly made him live in anxiety and fear of losing his Job.

PJMS DON'T FORGET

I'm telling jesus when i get to heaven.

The day BTS leave Hybe they will smell real chili peper from all of us🌶

Also that drastic change to his body is sus as hell given as the company tends to have body requirements of boys- it's a bit sus that JM will suddenly change his body "concept" out of the blue within a short while talking about all the health benefits when it's like but sir didn't you know all that before now??

And I love how, I talked about this way before it all happened- about him trying to build his muscles back, him lifting weights- he denied all that with that whole "I'm not trying to buff up" "I'm not doing crazy exercises" to now saying he works out with his boyfriend and actually lift weights💀

Seriously though, I think they love the company but won't miss a chance to shade the nonexistent edges off their Heads. To be fair to the company, they do be roasting themselves more than any artist I've seen on this planet so it's nothing personal💀

Jin... Jin is Jin.

It's all the times he's posted BangPD cooking for them or reiterated how amazing their company is whenever the company comes under fire for mistreating their artists for me🤣🤣🤣🤣

Also... Jungkook don't got it🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

He just likes to pretend he do.

Unless there's something I'm missing I don't think it was sus but I enjoyed talking about it hehehehe.

💜💜💜💜💜💜😊

GOLDY

[m0tel6mxzzy]

i think a euphoria time jump would be good bc it saved riverdale and ras was notorious for writing at the last minute and therefore the quality of the writing went down from seasons s1-4. also ngl none of the actors even pass for 18 at this point let’s be real put these bitches in college rn it’s much more believable bc there’s a student i thought was 25 who’s actually my age. zendaya is like 26 and having rue 20 in college is more sensible

sam levinson also let nate go. kill your darlings he’s pretty useless at this point he’s terrorized every single character besides maybe his older brother, mother and elliot. the moment that gun scene occurred i lost interest in any sort of “redemption” bc what happens if when u pair nate’s trauma and him never being held accountable for the harm he does is it appears as if his actions are constantly being justified. he’s an over powered villain and there’s nothing left to explore with him. shoulda listened to barbie bc at least kat was a character u still could’ve worked w had u let ur ego go and explored other avenues of growth for kat

[karenjacksons]

Power Rangers

I’m doing every season I’ve seen 😜

Zeo/Turbo 1

Favorite male: jason

favorite female: kat

Least favorite: idk?

Prettiest: kat

Funniest: rocky could be pretty funny ngl

Favorite episode: any gold ranger episode

Favorite romantic ship: jason/kat…….

Family ship: tommy/his brother (:()

friendship: kat/tanya

Worst ship: none

Turbo 2/Space

Favorite male: andros

favorite female: astronema/karone

least favorite: elgar

prettiest: astronema hottest pr character ever

funniest: zhane

Favorite episode: the one where astronema turns good and joins the ranger. The one with no sentai footage……it’s name escapes me. And for turbo,the iconique pizza ep

Romantic ship: andros/ashley

family ship: andros/karone,ecliptor/karone

friendship: Carlos/Andros

worst ship: idk?

Lost Galaxy

favorite male: damon

favorite female: karone

least favorite: mike because……who

prettiest: karone is still the hottest pr character even without the wigs

funniest: none of them were that funny tbh but karone gets the title for her “GALACTABEASTS OVER HEEERE” moment

favorite episode: protect the quasar saber

romantic ship: leo/karone

family ship: leo/mike

friendship: karone/everyone

worst ship: idk

Lightspeed Rescue

favorite male: ryan

favorite female: Angela tbh

least favorite: vypra was hot but a terribly written character even by this show’s standards lmao. (Idek about her acting btw)

prettiest: angela

funniest: joel

favorite episode: any titanium ranger episode. Also,in the limelight

romantic ship: joel/angela

family ship: Ryan/dana

friendship: Chad/kelsey

worst ship: none

Time force:

favorite male: wes

favorite female: katie

least favorite: lucas

prettiest: Jen and Katie

funniest: nadira

favorite episode: movie madness. I have watched it three times now. I’m dead serious. romantic ship: Wes/Jen

family ship: Wes/his dad

friendship: Wes/Trip,Wes/Katie

worst ship: tbh as funny as the episode was I kind of hate Lucas/nadira

Wild Force

favorite male: Jindrax

favorite female: shayla

least favorite: viktor but he was still a great villain

prettiest: taylor

funniest: jindrax and toxica

favorite episode: the zen aku episodes,,or the one where toxica dies and the followup where jindrax saves her romantic ship: merrick/shayla

family ship: when it comes to found family you can’t go wrong with Shayla/the rangers

friendship: see above

worst ship: idk

Ninja Storm:

favorite male: cam or blake

favorite female: Tori

least favorite: none

prettiest: marah out of costume tbh……..also Sally Martin is so stunning as an adult 😍

funniest: they are all so funny…….including the villains…….

Favorite episode: wild wipeout and I love lothor

romantic ship: blake/tori

family ship: the thunders ofc

friendship: Shane/Tori,Cam/Tori,honestly Tori/everyone

worst ship: not a real ship but I noticed hunter/tori was super popular in the 2000s youtube fandom……I actually like the videos but why.

Dino thunder:

favorite male: trent

favorite female: kira

least favorite: mesogog just because I hate his look

prettiest: kira,cassidy (marah is prettier tho 😜),good!elsa

funniest: cassidy

favorite episode: missing bone

Romantic ship: Conner/kira

Family ship: trent/anton for the interesting dynamic;and tbh because there are no other families on this show……I just thought of a hilarious AU where kira and cassidy are opposite sisters tho. Imagine

friendship: tommy/everyone

worst ship: 2000s YouTube fandom with your Tommy/Kira……wyd

jungle fury:

favorite male: RJ

favorite female: camille

least favorite: ngl a lot of the evil masters got on my nerves for how they treated camille

prettiest: lily

funniest: rj

favorite episode: the one where Camille is blonde and befriends lily

romantic ship: Jarrod/camille

family ship: ig rj/finn? Not enough interactions tho….

friendship: RJ/Casey

worst ship: I sort of hate romantic rj/casey

[romanogers-lyrics]

TFAWS EP 6: Oh Captain MY Captain ✊🏽🦾

Sammyyyyyyyyyyy 😩😩😩😩👌👌👌👌

I friggen love they went with the comic accurate suit. Looking at it close up there’s so much attention to detail and textures

“I’m captain America” damnnnnn rightttt

Those vibranium wings thoooooo ✨✨✨

I love they gave Sam time in the sky and on the ground combat so we could see the full extent of the suit.

Redwing is back 💕💕💕

Karli is just full off the rails rn smdh. She seems lost and like she knows her time is running out

Okayyy I love how everyone in New York is just so used to world ending events they out there with their phones video taping and giving sideline commentary. Like- get to safety 😂😂😂

Cracker Barrel cap shows up with his trash shield 🤦🏻‍♀️and I was full on ready to hate this guy. But I gotta say... he got some respect there at the end. When faced with a clear choice between revenge and heroism he chose to save the civilians.

Bucky not even hesitating to help the innocent and getting to be a hero. Getting the thanks he deserves 😩👏

Bucky looking up at Sam like he’s a goddamn angel because he is!!!! That suit!!!

The wingspan!!! Caw caw

The guy who was like “that’s black falcon” vs “no that’s captain America!” Yessssss note the subtle generational difference there.

Sam saying I don’t want to fight you very similar to Steve and winter soldier. Never fighting to kill (@john Walker) but fighting to stop someone.

“You have the power of an insane god or a misguided teenager” he snapped 👏

Honestly not a fan of long speeches in a movie like this but Sammy was killing it. He did his JOB. Not just stopping the bad guys but standing up to power that be. He made sure Karli’s message got out there ✨🙌

Oh god Isaiah!!! Every time this man comes on screen it is water works for me 😭😭😭 I honestly didn’t think we’d see more of him after the last episode but goddammmmmmn they gave him such a beautiful closure. Not reparations of course bc nothing could erase that pain but really honored him 😭😭😭

When Sam says “including you” and looks at Isaiah I was done 🥺 bc it obviously meant so much for Isaiah to have someone he inspired and remembers him ✊🏽

The museum scene is such a perfect way to honor him bc he stays “dead” and safe from the gov but his legacy lives on. Okay 😭😭😭🥺😫😫😫

Zemo is like “ah hell nah I don’t want these supremacists as my roommates” 💥💥 Ngl it made me like Zemo more. He always gets the last word 👀

Okay I love you tfaws but I’m disappointed Sharon aka POWER BROKER didn’t have something more menacing planned foe Karli. Especially after all those texts saying “I will end you” Like sure sharon killed Karli but wasn’t anything special 😒

One more not even like gripe but a note- the talk between Bucky and Yori was too short. I wonder if it was a reshoot that they didn’t finish due to covid or what but definitely should have taken that moment. Given all the other difficult convos this show has shown in full I feel like this scene was meant to be longer. Idk 👀

I think from a writing perspective it would be nice to give that moment some privacy and leave us to imagine what was said. However- that was not done with other sensitive conversations so I still maintain it should have been longer

Omg Uncle Bucky with kids I’m so soft 🥺

The end when it flashed “Captain America and the winter soldier” 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼😭 I was already down for the count but gdddd

This show went so far beyond what I thought was possible and challenged/frustrated/comforted/healed me. Thank you so much to the creators cast and crew ilyyyyyy

Sorry short 🥺 I didn’t expect to be so satisfied

I don’t want to discuss cap 4 or season 2 just yet. I want to just enjoy what has been done so far for a hot sec

Please feel free to leave comments and thought 💕

My episode 5 reaction:

Taglist: @soliloquy-of-nemo

[beautifulterriblequeen]

B2:S - Chapter 3

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be Lujanne, Callum, Rayla, Ezran, Bait, and Soren goodness!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

Lujanne having excellent fitness for all her walking around the Moon Nexus, and she's so energetic that Callum has trouble keeping up with her! She seems like those active grandmas who almost never stop moving, who have a lifelong supply of endless stamina. It makes me wonder if Lujanne will need that level of fitness for some upcoming conflict.

Callum feeling really hungry over not eating grubs and then still deciding he'd rather be hungry. It makes me wonder all over again how Lujanne got to the point where she eats grubs, considering that other Moonshadow elves we know of back in the Silvergrove don't. I still love my hc that the giant leech ate all of Lujanne's moonberry bushes and she's taking her revenge. Whatever's going on there, Callum is definitely not at that point yet.

When Lujanne asks Callum how he knows she's real, he thinks to himself that he'd put up with just about anything from someone who was going to teach him magic. That's a great parallel and foreshadowing for Viren's student/master relationship with Aaravos! And it's telling that neither student gets exactly what they hoped to get. Lujanne doesn't actively teach Callum any spells, because she believes he can't learn Moon magic at all. Aaravos does offer Viren power, but it takes him to some very dark places - literally and figuratively - and the cost is terribly high.

Callum sees a moon shape among the ruins, and Lujanne explains that the Moonhenge layout is an intricate rune that uses the structures themselves as part of its symbols and power. That's apparently a thing even with ordinary Moonshadow villages like Hollow Wood in the east, which is the coolest idea I've seen in a while: city planning as magic runes!

Yes, that's the same shape as the pendants Ethari made for himself and Runaan. Protection? Home? Feelsiness? A sense of safety and belongnig for all cycles and seasons?

Wonder what this Moonhenge rune stands for, then, and how much of this landscape is included in that rune. I bet it's more than we think!

But it makes sense now, how toppling the stone pillars would disable the spell the druids would cast to connect with the Moon Nexus lake. Breaking the infrastructure of the Moonhenge breaks the rune.

There's a physical sensation involved with the visuals that Historia Viventem brings up! When that one ghostly druid walked through Callum, he felt icy cold. Like in ghost stories. I really wonder about what exactly Historia Viventem is doing when it activates. It shows truth, "what really happened here?", so it must have some kind of time-related element, maybe tied to how the moon always repeats the same cycles or something. But it also seems to draw on the spirits of any living people involved in the flashback, because Callum could physically feel that wispy shape passing through him. So very interesting!

Orrr... is that all wrong, and there's something else at work with this spell than time? Maybe the world beyond life and death can act as an imprint of the things that have happened in the living world, and the spell that Lujanne (and later Callum) casts taps into that place, with perfect recall. I'm looking really hard at the sentence that says "dozens of translucent elf ghosts" and "phantom Moonhenge" and "lost in their own world" here.

Lujanne says more here than in the show about the world beyond life and death, being her mysterious Moonshadow-mage self. She says that "beyond" and "between" might both apply to where this other plane of existence is, and she doesn't much care which. With all the relativity swirling around this place, and not much in the way of empiricism, it's sounding like perhaps multiple conflicting ideas might actually coexist in such a place, allowing more ideas to fit there than we might normally believe is possible. Which is a fascinating bit of worldbuilding. Basically, every headcanon anyone has ever had about the Moon Nexus could all be true at the same time, for all we know.

Oh oh oh, Callum coming in soft with a secret wish! He takes one look at the Moonhenge and immediately thinks of finding a way to see his mom again! Poor boy, my heart! I'd say that could be another interesting parallel with Viren, but then, who wouldn't hold that sentiment?

Oh my, is this another breath of life into Ye Olde Ley Lines headcanon? Lujanne mentioning the Nexuses again, so soon after talking about the runic design of the entire Moonhenge, makes me wonder if the six nexuses are in fact giant runes. On Earth, the places where ley lines cross are called nexuses, and there are those who believe those points got marked with ancient structures, like Stonehenge and many many others. If Xadia were crossed with magical lines which naturally formed nexus points where they met, and if powerful magical runes were built across those entire areas, well. That would be cool beans, fams. Can I smack a map of Xadia and release a spell like Luz Noceda does? Because ngl that is my first instinct here.

Lujanne has got to be missing some grandkids to spoil, right? The way she's always whipping out cake and ice cream for Callum, and she's so grandma-ish about it. Headcanon about her being Runaan's mom aside, she is canonically lonely and she's very sweet to Allen and Ellis and I think she's missing whatever family she once had in the past. She may never get to have that family back, so she's finding a new one among the humans who live nearby, and I think that's sweet. Found family isn't just for the young.

But Ellis is straight up gonna be her fave, I bet, because she didn't turn up her nose at Lujanne's illusion food!

Ezran and Bait have a lot more to their relationship than was visible in the show, and I'm so excited by it! Ez can tell by looking at Bait's colors that he's not truly jealous of Zym, even if he's really grumpy about the dragonling taking up his favorite human's time.

And Ez thinking a lot about his dad and the things he's taught him. They're soft leadership material, and I love that so much! "Pick your battles" and the importance of encouragement. Ahh, my heart. Ezran, you're going to be such a good king.

But wait a second: both times that Bait gets extra grumpy in Zym's first training session, Ezran has just mentioned something about flying. Guys, I think Bait wishes he could fly, really badly. And that's his biggest problem with Zym, and with Ezran teaching Zym to fly, instead of Bait who doesn't have wings so. Bait is so old that his secrets have secrets, and I'm really curious how flying fits into them now!

Rayla, Dramatic Assassin: "I need to patrol for dark forces." That's what Lujanne called the source of the purple wisps that found them. I wonder if that's an official term all Moonshadows know, or if Rayla is just taking her cue from a veteran Moon mage. And I wonder how far Rayla is falling into the apparent pattern of "one mage, one assassin", since she does spend a lot of her time patrolling without being asked.

When Callum tells Lujanne that he was bad at prince stuff, and she asks if he didn't give up and got good at those things anyway, it's an opportunity for Callum to embrace subverting his parents' expectations in favor of seeking his own path, which is a primary theme of the show. But Lujanne is a couple generations older than Callum, at the very least, and I have to wonder what her upbringing was like. Is her version of success the one she took? Was she bad at magic once too, but she persisted? She is very soft and doesn't want to kill anyone.

Maybe Lujanne had dreams of doing something else with her life, but she felt she had to pursue the destiny that others handed to her, so she studied magic as hard as she could, and she did get good at it, but using it to defend Xadia from humans is not what she wanted to do with her life. Whether there's a parallel between her and Ethari on that point, there's one between Callum and Ethari, I think. How much of your life are you willing to let others direct for you?

LISTEN I WAS DYING AT THE EAR BREAD SCENE OKAY

This is my new favorite Soren and Claudia moment ever. Soren loves him his bread, okay. Even as earplugs for Claudia's sleep ocarina tune. The fact that it's "super effective" makes me think of a Pokemon defense. The fact that he learned it at camp, where he also learned about Moonshadow Madness, is hilarious. Later on, Corvus doesn't know Soren by name, but I still love the idea of Corvus being a kind of Strider-esque camp instructor, filling the ears of his young charges with all kinds of useful tactics like ear bread for magic spell songs (which actually seemed to work as intended), and warnings about the enemy elves' blood-themed tactics (which may or may not come back around in BH)

I thought they were gonna go in a kind of deep direction when Soren still wanted his ear bread back, but then he just. Eats them. Just noms them. I love this kid. Give Soren all the bread!

[makeste]

BnHA 6th Popularity Poll Reaction Post - Risky Spoiler-Dodging Edition

hey guys, so seeing as the results from the 6th popularity poll were leaked today, I figured I would do a separate reaction + analysis post this year, rather than piling it in as an extra on top of the chapter reaction post tomorrow. I figure this makes more sense anyway, since they’re really two completely different things. also this way I can write as much as I want lol.

also, just fyi, I am still completely unspoiled for chapter 293. and probably the smart thing to do to keep it that way would be to log off tumblr and hold off posting this until tomorrow, but I apparently have no impulse control today so oh well. anyway, so I’m hoping you guys will keep this spoiler-free if you don’t mind! as always, I would prefer to just jump right in completely unaware tomorrow like Troy returning to the study room with the pizza boxes lol.

okay so this first part is just going to be my predictions. fyi I am writing this part on Wednesday night, and then I’ll add on the results part on Thursday or Friday (ETA: Thursday, apparently, since I am impatient.)

okay so first of all, just as a refresher, this poll was open to Japanese voters from Aug 3 to Sep 30. meaning chapters 279 through 285. meanwhile last year’s poll took place around the tail end of the MVA arc. so between then and now we had Heroes Rising, the Endeavor Agency arc, and the War arc up to the part where the 1-A kids took on Gigantomachia in Gunga, and started battling Tomura in Jakku. so technically only a couple of arcs, but a LOT of stuff going down in them. oh and season 4 of the anime as well

so! firstly, I predict that my truculent africanized honeybee son will hold on to his crown at #1, coming off a year in which he did some internship-boosted soul searching, borrowed OFA in movie canon, and finished out the voting period as the my-body-moved-on-its-own character development MVP. like CALL ME CRAZY lol, but I’m pretty sure his title is safe. and then after him will be Deku and Shouto as usual

Aizawa should hopefully also have a strong showing because the dude had a banner fucking year. reunited with his old dead friend, took on Tomura with his hopelessly inept hero pals, and then chopped his fucking leg off. he had better be in the top 10. his fucking leg died for this, idk what else he has to do

Endeavor also stands a decent chance of doing well given the internship arc and the final episode of season 4. which I’m sure will go down just swimmingly if that does happen lmao. especially if he somehow manages to rank higher than...

Dabi, which I don’t think he will btw, but you never know. anyways though, but I’m thinking Dabi’s going to have a stronger showing than in past years (in the last poll he only got 367 votes and was ranked 19th). mostly because of his fight in the Gunga mansion, and his cheekily censored name reveal to...

Hawks, who is also going to rank pretty high here, I think. might be he loses some points for killing off Twice, but his back was basically to the wall there. and he has always been very popular, and I think season 4 will also give him a boost, along with his heavy involvement in the first half of the War arc

Tomura was already in 6th place last year and I think he cracks the top 5 this year. he’s gotten exponentially more popular since the MVA arc, and got a boost in the last poll even though his flashback had only just barely happened, and he hadn’t finished Awakening yet and all that stuff. anyway, so he’s only gotten cooler and more tragic since then so I think he makes a big play here

Kirishima, Momo, Tokoyami, and Mina should also hopefully do well, since the poll opened right in the middle of all that Gigantomachia action, and Toko had just got done being an absolute badass and protecting his birb dad. I don’t think he’ll quite make it to the top ten, but he should

and last but not least, I’m hoping that Mirko will come out and take the polls by storm, although I have no clue how popular she is in Japan lol. she’s clearly Horikoshi’s favorite though. she SHOULD be everyone’s favorite, but I mean, we’ll see how it goes

anyway that’s it as far as predictions! and so now, through the magic of writing stuff at different times, we will fast-forward to the part where we actually find out the results!

OH MY GOD YES, STEAMPUNK KHLKSLLKL. HERE FOR IT. JOLLY GOOD SHOW. 5 STARS

Kacchan looks SO COCKY and SO HAPPY and SO ADORABLE, YES I SAID IT. he is adorable as FUCK. I don’t quite know what it is about this particular Kacchan that just screams “LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE MY STUPID, LOUD SON IS WITH HIS BIZARRE WINDOWPANE-LOOKING CONVERTIBLE SUNGLASS GOGGLES and his POORLY TIED CRAVAT”, but I think it’s because he looks like if a Digimon character and a FMA character had a baby

anyway, so it looks like most of the people present here are more or less who we expected to see. except that I can’t tell for sure if that’s Dabi or Shindou, and if it’s Shindou I’m going to punch somebody in the face so you will have to excuse me

Iida wearing a TRENCHCOAT and a TOP HAT with ENGINE EXHAUST GOGGLE ACCENTS is my new favorite Iida of all time. take note how there is no possible way he can wear those goggles with them sitting on top of his hat like that. plus he’s already got glasses on. these are just purely for aesthetic and IF THAT AIN’T JUST THE STEAMPUNK WAY

Deku out here speaking softly and carrying a lead pipe. Kacchan you best look out. seems like he’s done watching you take first place year after year while he languishes in the number two spot. your only hope is that he trips while attacking you because his boots are unbuckled

Shouto’s standing over there with the rest of the non-first-and-second-place characters, but what are the odds his results are actually within spitting distance of Deku’s same as always. anyway he doesn’t mind, though. also his outfit is by far the most sensible one here, but if you look closely he’s got some sort of fire extinguisher/jet pack thing strapped to his back that’s got a control switch on his belt. Shouto are you jetpacking or putting out fires

Kirishima out here all “I’m not sure what steampunk is so I’m just going to take off my shirt and pose”

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH SKLKSDLKFJLSKJLDFKJSLDFFJLDKSJFL:KS. SIR. SIR. also, lowkey furious that Horikoshi refuses to show us the automail leg that he is clearly sporting here but which we just can’t see, SHOUTO MOVE GODDAMMIT

Endeavor has TWO fire extinguisher-slash-jetpacks. THE BETTER TO... WHATEVER. look at you here in the top ten again. you really live for that controversy

HAWKS OUT HERE WITH HIS STEAMPUNK BEATS BY DRE AND HIS WEARING A RING ON EVERY FINGER. nice to see you’ve still got your wings there, kiddo. then again Deku still has both of his arms too so who even knows what is going on

BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, IS THIS DABI OR SHINDOU. as if I don’t know the truth deep down in my heart. y’all I am gonna flip lmao. it’s not that I dislike Shindou, strictly speaking. but just... I can’t explain what it is, but if you put him and AFO next to each other and told me “you can only punch one”, I would be having a serious crisis. just, THIS FUCKING GUY, idek. STOP SMILING

Tomura looks like he just wandered onto the set here by mistake and has no idea where he is or what is going on. it’s because you’re wearing a bigass severed hand that’s blocking your entire view, Tomura. just take the hand off your face my sweet murder dumpling

anyway! so I managed to also find a link to the full poll results while somehow managing to avoid spoilers, and then I wanted to compare the results to last year’s poll, and so I made... this

hopefully you can all see this. if you’re on desktop you might be screwed, but on mobile you should be able to click and enlarge it. I mean, assuming you actually give a fuck about boring poll analysis spreadsheets lmao

anyway, so there were actually 13k fewer votes cast this year which is a bit of a surprise. is the series not still growing in popularity? do people apparently have better things to do during their quarantine lol

anyways but despite this, and despite getting 8k fewer votes overall, Kacchan still managed almost twice as many as his closest competitor. well fought, Deku. please put down that pipe

I somehow always underestimate the power of ship popularity to influence these things. but for example, it looks like Present Mic got that Vigilantes Trio bump. ride that wave for all it’s worth my man! hell, you got me on board

Iida fucking Tenya somehow got some sort of POWER BOOST out of NOWHERE which I can’t explain at all lmao, but I’m here for it. NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN

Sero managed to get the exact same number of votes in both 2019 and 2020. clearly the most loyal fans in the business

Mirko being all the way down at #20 is, of course, a travesty, and I hereby nominate her to be the one to punch Shindou in the face

ngl though, the lack of a single female character in the top ten hurts just a bit. it’s not overly surprising, but still. the worst part of it is that even if you kicked Shindou to the curb and moved everyone else up one slot, it would still be all dudes since Mic beat out Momo by a margin of a little more than a hundred votes. hard to stay mad at Mic for too long, though. ah well

Tomura actually lost a bunch of votes which is a genuine surprise to me. I know the villain standom isn’t as dominant in Japan as it is in Western fandom, but still. you can go ahead and punch Shindou too I guess

Tokoyami lowkey doubled his vote count over the past year while hiding down there at #18. he is slowly becoming more powerful. biding his time

anyway so I think that’s it! I mean not really, but I’m getting kind of tired lol. so just, you know, insert the usual gripes at Overhaul’s ranking here, although we can be happy about Magne making her way onto the list (r.i.p.), and Mineta and AFO taking a very satisfying slide down (all the way out, in AFO’s case; good riddance you bum). Hadou also got a huge boost which is awesome. Mustard’s persistent ownership of the #36 spot will forever remain a mystery to me, but oh well

anyways, this was fun. and I really do feel like everyone is looking away on purpose so that when Deku brains Kacchan with that pipe in about two seconds from now, there will be no witnesses, oh my fucking god

[gra-sonas]

Hi! How are you? I'm hoping to get your view on sth. As probably one of the best RNM blogs here, overall how do you think that people received this last season? Do you think that most were happy or not? Personally, it was a let down and I'm dreading next season but I think that perhaps because Malex finally happened, most people were happy and didn't care about the many problems that the season had, you know? So, I was just wondering what was your take on how "successful" was the season according to the fans. I hope this makes sense, english is not my native language so I feel that I'm having trouble expressing myself. And I also hope that this does not fall into the things that you don't want to discuss, if it is, please feel free to ignore me. Hope you have a good weekend!

I think S3 was well-received, and many (possibly most) fans liked it overall (that doesn't mean that everyone liked every single thing about the season, I certainly didn't, but that people mostly enjoyed watching it, and not just bc of Malex).

Most media reviews were also in favor of S3, and the show did rather well ratings-wise (in the dead of summer no less). I guess that means that S3 was indeed "successful".

Especially in direct comparison to S2, S3's often been called "much better". And without wanting to take away from the things that were fun and that S3 got right, I think this direct comparison is also what made S3 feel that much better, when there were quite a few things that weren't actually better.

S3 had many enjoyable moments, some great character interactions (esp. some we hadn't seen before), Michael got some much-needed growth, the aliens got new powers, we got new info about the aliens/their home planet/the 1947 crash, Nathan did an incredible job playing two different characters with the same face, we got Malex, Echo got back together, we got introduced to Dallas, and there were some other things most people seem to have enjoyed.

Ultimately, I would say S3 wasn't as good as it could've been tho, and I think a lot of fans agree on some of the most obvious shortcomings (I don't want to get into those in detail bc then my inbox will burst with people chiming in on what they didn't like, and I'd rather not start that discussion).

S3 certainly was a good step in the right direction, but it also showed that not everything that had previously been blamed on the former showrunner was entirely their fault/responsibility (Pls don't send any asks about this either btw, I really don't want to talk about she-who-shall-not-be-named).

It will be interesting to see how S4 goes. The season will most likely be compared to S3, not S2, and if S4 continues to be more of the same they served in S3, repeating some of the things fans aren't too happy about... I don't think S4 would get as much praise as S3 got.

Ngl, I doubt most of the things we've criticized for up to 3 seasons will magically change in S4. The show is what it is, the writers will continue to do "their thing", and in all likelihood, we'll continue to complain about those very same things. :/

Chris is definitely a much better-suited showrunner for the show imo, and on top of that, the cast seems to enjoy working (and even collaborating) with him a lot.

That's amazing, but I don't really expect much improvement in the areas we're not too happy about (and haven't been since S1) bc it seems to be an overall weakness showrunner and writers alike struggle with (like developing all core 8 characters equally over the course of a season or not getting lost in "too much plot" in the end)...

Oh well, we'll see.